Let me count the ways
by My Fleeting Touch
Summary: Two years ago, Mikan Sakura was diagnosed with acute amnesia - forgetting everything that happened before the accident when she was fourteen. Natsume Hyuuga is hiding something that he doesn't want her to know - not until she remembers. NxM, Swearing


**Let me count the ways**

_By My Fleeting Touch  
Gakuen Alice owned by Higuchi Tachibana_

Prologue:  
In your good memory

* * *

We all have our own stories – each as unique as the one before.

It didn't matter who we were; a drug-addict, a thrill junkie, a high school cheerleader, a moneymaking maniac, a registered troublemaker, an animal-lover or a sick little girl – our story was just as important, just as different as the person beside us. We were best friends; Sumire, Anna, Nonoko, Hotaru, Natsume, Ruka and I, and that was all that ever mattered.

Tonight it was just us girls, laying on Nonoko's bedroom floor – giggling over the latest hottie, listening to songs we had apparently spent our childhood growing up to, using magazines to try an replicate hairstyles. The boys weren't here, but they usually weren't around anyway – they hung with us sometimes at school, and occasionally out of it. Tonight I'm not sleeping over though, tonight I'm going to the hospital.

Two years ago, I was diagnosed with acute amnesia after being in a car accident with my mother – who had been under the influence of drugs at the time. All I could remember was names, my family and myself. It changed my mother's life, and it had certainly had changed mine. After my father's death, my mother seeked comfort in both legal and illegal substances – it didn't matter which. After the accident though, as she sat by my bed – she had been more like the mother I used to have before father's death than she had ever been since, she promised me to clean herself up as I stared numbly at her – almost all memories forgotten.

My friends, especially Hotaru, were distraught that I couldn't remember anything – so they seemed to make a pact, never to split up and their goal was to make me remember. We'd always be together.

"It says here, 'the average age of a first kiss is sixteen'," Nonoko announced, flipping through a magazine, "Guess most of us are still in luck then – to be average!"

"Oh yeah, maybe Natsume will suddenly turn his head and actually notice me and then…then," Sumire Shouda's eyes got a dreamy look in them. I giggled, but the rest shot her a disbelieving look, like they were communicating silently with her. She flushed, "What? It was a joke!"

"I thought you looked good together with Koko, Sumire," Anna chimed in lightly, a mischievous gleam springing to her eyes.

Sumire snorted, "Are you kidding me – we fight all the time if you haven't noticed!"

"Sexual tension," Nonoko grinned, "That's always popular among to-be couples now days." There was one thing to know about the twins; Nonoko and Anna – once they had an idea or a goal not many things could lead them astray from completing it.

"He's a prat, that's what I call it," Sumire protested – her panic wasn't to be laughed at; these two were seriously almost as scary as Hotaru Imai.

I raised my hands to my cheeks, a first kiss huh? That'd be something – although I didn't remember anything, I was pretty certain that I hadn't been kissed – I'm sure Hotaru would've been sure to tell me if I had someone like that. I was sixteen now, and I wished I had something the average person had—wait.

A memory flashed before my eyes: soft lips, teeth colliding, raven hair, hands wound in my hair and the feeling of blood rushing to my face – all so vivid that I gasped. A memory. Four heads whipped around to face me as I sucked in a deep breath of air, _no way, no way, no way, _"_HYUUGA!_"

Fuck my life.

* * *

Natsume Hyuuga was the devil's poster boy.

Okay, an extremely hot poster boy – I'll admit, and so would about one thousand fan girls, rather gladly I might add.

According to Hotaru's story – he's been my best friend since we were five, around the same time I met her.

I didn't really want to see 'my best friend' tonight of all nights, given the rather unpleasant flash back that I had remembered, but he was going to drive me down to the hospital today for a check up. Usually my mother would be there to do it, or Hotaru, but neither could quite make it today and Natsume had his 'monthly check up' today. I call it his 'monthlies'.

He was leaning lazily against his motorbike – smoking a cigarette – and I stormed up, seething. Cold crimson eyes shot up to meet my own brown orbs; it was usually our way of greeting each other, and he ran a hand casually through his raven hair. "Took your time," he muttered as I drew nearer.

"Trust Natsume Hyuuga to be moody on the day of his 'monthly'," I grimaced, a temperamental Natsume Hyuuga was about as pleasant to talk to as an angry rhino – he gave off the same aura as well.

"You don't seem to be pleased to be having a check up either," he moved his face closer and practically blew smoke into my face as he said that. "Not that I blame you, I can't say having your head scanned sounds like a rave." His eyes held mine before he shifted away again, and I shuddered. I had no idea what they did to Natsume on his check up days.

"I wish you'd stop smoking," I murmured softly.

"Do you dislike it?"

"I hate it," I said, staring fiercely into his eyes, "I hate it, _please Natsume._"

His eyes burned with something that I couldn't quite name and his face moved until his nose was millimetres from my own, and his warm breath tickled my face, "As you wish." I felt my breath catch in my throat. He dropped the cigarette and crushed it under his shoe – his face never moving from mine. "Mikan," my name was no more than a whisper on his lips, but it still made me flinch and he sighed, "Come on, we'll be late."

For some reason a flicker of disappointment ran through me, "Wait!" I caught his well-built arm, "Wait – I remembered something back whilst I was hanging with the girls!" I swear his head flicked around so fast that I was amazed that he didn't get whiplash – his crimson eyes wide. He made a move as if to grab me by the shoulder, but he resisted.

"What? What did you remember?" there was some note of urgency in his voice.

I was taken a-back, "That you stole my first kiss?"

"That all? Anything else?"

"No," despair seemed to creep back into his eyes, and he sighed again – ruffling a hand through his hair. He then pulled me into his arms.

"Trust you only to remember such stupidly trivial things," his voice was a rumble in his chest.

"A _first kiss_ is not trivial, Hyuuga," I snarled, infuriated, "It's a very important thing for a girl."

"It is trivial, if you'd count it against our other memories,"

This took me by surprise, "Like what?"

He let go of me, pushing a helmet into my hands, "That's for you to remember, Mikan Sakura." There was a flicker of pain in his crimson, but after a second it was gone. "Get on."

I stared at the helmet in my hands – the only helmet it seemed, "But what about you?"

"Well, we don't want you losing your memories again if we do crash," he smirked, "That'd be a pain." He glanced at my face and his expression softened, even if only a bit, "I'll be fine Mikan. Okay? Good, now get on." The command was evident in his voice and I couldn't go against it.

Driving with Natsume was different from driving with Hotaru and my mother – my mother would always drive terribly slow and cautious, and I knew the events from the accident always replayed over and over in her head, Hotaru was also rather cautious if I may say so. Natsume however, drove like it was normal – he was amazing for someone who was only still a learner. His back was warm and firm as I leant against him, my arms wrapped around him – the wind blowing in my auburn hair, threatening to prize it free from the pigtails that my friends hated so much.

'_Your hair looks better when it's out,' _they'd say.

* * *

I hated the hospital.

The clean stench of sterilised sickness, the metallic scent of blood and the sounds of diagnosis. I clenched and unclenched my fist, feeling the blood drain from my face. It always made me nervous going to the doctor; always wondering if they were going to inject me with something or take a blood sample.

I hate needles and I hated blood.

"Natsume Hyuuga?" The receptionist called and my hand wanted to hold him back, wanted to make him stay with me. He rose and shoved his hands in his pockets, his chin stubborn and jutting out. He strolled away to his doctor, waiting for him patiently. The doctor smiled wearily.

"Are you going to be stubborn again today?" the doctor asked, his voice tired and his eyes flickered to me – seeming sad and sympathetic. "Come on now, Natsume." He turned away, leaving Natsume to follow him – grumbling.

I was left there, an uneasy feeling in my stomach but before long my name was called. My doctor was a nice person, a rather young lady in about her early thirties with kind eyes that always seemed to soothe a scared little girl like me. "How are you Mikan?"

"Good," I tried to reply emotionlessly, but failed, "I remembered something today!"

A wide grin spread across her face, "That certainly is good news – this session should be quick then."

That small memory was the first thing I had remembered in four months.

* * *

End of Prologue

_Yeah, so it's a bit short – but this is just the prologue of the story, the later chapters should be longer. It's a bit of a dark story – mostly to do with reality, disease, amnesia and accidents and so on._

_I had Mikan and Natsume already know each other in this story because, fun as it is, it is a bit tiring going through their meeting again and again. They are also rather close to each other at the beginning of the story._

_Anyway __**please, please review**__ because I love reviews and to be quite honest – you get a bit put off if you don't get many reviews._

_xx. My Fleeting Touch_


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